What many tennis fans hoped would be a terrific return for Serena Williams to Wimbledon turned into the kind of circus the sport doesn't need. The comeback also reaffirmed what every human being already knows: Father Time has never suffered a loss.
The icon was able to play in her first singles match, which received loads of attention, even from those who don't always pay close attention to the great sport of tennis. Williams lost to 20-year-old Maya Joint in three sets, though. The 44-year-old Williams also appears to have suffered a knee injury during the first set.
The injury wasn't so bad that she had to retire from the match, but she didn't move all that well. What wasn't clear was whether the legend wasn't chasing down balls at times because she was conserving energy, or if she couldn't move that well for whatever reason.
Serena Williams return to Wimbledon was the circus tennis didn't need
Maybe the truth is a bit of both. What's clear, though, is that the knee issue was also the reason she was forced to withdraw from playing her scheduled opening doubles match with her sister, Venus. In other words, Serena showed up to Wimbledon with much hoopla, only to play one match, one in which she lost.
To be fair, not many should have expected high-end success in her first tournament back to singles. Taking any time off affects a player, but especially one who is 44 years old. Tennis is a cardio sport, and one must have a lot of endurance to excel. Age makes that more difficult.
And no, none of this is supposed to be agist toward Williams. She is still a relatively young person, capable of living a happy life for many more decades to come. What is challenging for her, just as it is for 39-year-old Novak Djokovic, who has never stopped playing but does play less, is that young players cover the court a tad bit better, and that has an impact on the outcome of matches.
What is worse than Serena Williams being injured is that Wimbledon allowed her to be put in advantageous situations that other players wouldn't be able to be. She was able to skip a media session following her match with Joint because of the knee problem. That's understandable.
What isn't is that the Williams sisters' doubles match kept getting pushed back to help Serena prepare. No other player would receive such positive treatment. The match was even moved to Saturday, which would have been the first-round match for the Williams sisters, but the first day of the second round for everyone else. That's not fair, and it made Serena bigger than the sport itself.
The only real positive about Serena Williams not participating in the second week of Wimbledon 2026 is that fans can now focus on the tennis. Fans of the 23-time singles Grand Slam champion will have to wait until another tournament to see if Williams returns.
